The moment the word "No" leaves Leah's lips, something in the room shifts.
The tension that's been choking both of them for days snaps violently, desperately and Edward reacts before she even finishes exhaling.
He steps closer and cups her face, not gently this time, but with a hunger he's been fighting since she walked out of the restaurant. His thumbs stroke her cheeks, his breath hot and uneven. Leah's chest rises fast, her pulse racing so hard she feels it in her fingertips.
"Say it again," he breathes.
She swallows, her voice trembling. "I don't want you to leave…"
His jaw tightens. His body goes still.
That's all it takes.
Edward crashes his mouth onto hers.
The kiss is not soft. It's not careful. It's a collision wet, hot, breathless. His lips devour hers like he's been dying of thirst and she's the only source of water left in the world.
Leah gasps into his mouth, her fingers flying to his shirt, gripping the soaked fabric. He tastes like rain, like heat, like the nights she swore she would forget but never could. The kiss steals her breath, steals her logic, steals everything except the truth she's been running from:
She wants him.
She needs him.
She missed him.
Edward presses her back against the wall with a low groan that vibrates through her entire body. Water drips from his hair onto her face, sliding down their connected lips. The cold droplets only make the warmth between them burn hotter.
"God, Leah…" he pants against her mouth. "I thought you were done with me."
Her fingers slide up his chest, pushing the wet fabric aside, feeling the heat of his skin beneath. "I tried," she whispers. "I really tried."
He kisses her again deeper, harder. His tongue sweeps into her mouth with the same dominance he showed that first night, the same hunger that ruined her sanity. Leah moans into him, her knees weakening, her resolve dissolving.
Edward hears that sound her sound and a growl escapes his throat. His hands slide down to her waist, then her hips, gripping her like he's afraid she'll vanish if he loosens his hold.
"You don't get to run anymore," he murmurs, lips trailing to her jaw, then her neck. "Not from me."
Her head falls back, giving him more access. "Edward…"
He bites lightly at her pulse point just enough to make her gasp.
"You have no idea," he whispers against her skin, "how much I missed this."
His fingers dig into her hips, pulling her flush against him. She feels him hard, throbbing, undeniable. A needy sound leaves her lips before she can stop it. Edward freezes for a second, his breath hitching, like the sound broke something inside him.
Then he lifts his head.
His eyes dark, soaked, burning lock onto hers.
"Tell me to stop," he rasps. "Right now. Tell me and I'll walk out of this apartment and leave you alone."
She can't speak.
She can barely breathe.
So she doesn't tell him to stop.
She pulls him back by the collar of his wet shirt and slams her mouth onto his.
Edward loses whatever control he had left.
He lifts her literally lifts her off the ground with one arm under her thighs, pressing her against the wall. She gasps, legs instinctively wrapping around his waist. His other hand pins her wrist above her head, his mouth reclaiming hers with a hunger that borders on feral.
Rainwater drips from him onto her skin, but she doesn't care. The contrast cold rain, hot body is intoxicating.
"Leah…" he groans into her mouth, "I need you. Right now."
Her voice is breathless, desperate. "Then take me."
He curses softly, the sound low and sinful, and he carries her still pressed against him toward the bedroom. Leah clings to him, kissing him like she's starving, like the days without him carved a hollow she needs him to fill. His tongue tangles with hers, deep and demanding. Every step he takes bumps her body against his, sending sparks down her spine.
He reaches the bedroom door, but Leah pulls at his shirt. "Take this off."
He stops just for a second and meets her eyes.
"You want it off?" he asks softly.
She nods, breathless.
Edward grabs the hem of the soaked shirt and yanks it over his head, dropping it onto the floor with a wet slap. Her breath catches. His chest hard, defined, muscles shifting under smooth skin gleams with droplets of water.
She lifts her hand and drags her fingers down his torso. He shuts his eyes, jaw clenching.
"Don't do that," he warns, voice tight.
She smirks slightly. "Why not?"
His eyes snap open, burning. "Because I'll lose it."
Before she can tease him again, he lowers her onto the bed, climbing over her. His hands slide under her shirt, pushing the fabric up her stomach in slow, torturous inches.
"You're still shaking," he murmurs.
"You make me shake," she admits.
His breath catches at her honesty.
He pushes her shirt up to her ribs, then pulls it off entirely. Leah shivers under his gaze. Edward's eyes move over her body like he's memorizing every inch all over again.
"You're beautiful," he whispers. "You were beautiful the first night. You're beautiful now. Even when you hate me."
Her chest rises sharply. "I never hated you."
He leans down, kissing her shoulder, her collarbone, the curve of her breast.
"Then why did you run?"
"Because I felt too much," she whispers.
His lips pause.
"Say that again."
She inhales shakily. "I felt too much, Edward. I still do."
He kisses her slow this time, deep, deliberate. His mouth moves with a tenderness that contradicts the desperation burning beneath it.
"You're killing me," he murmurs against her lips.
Then he kisses her harder hands sliding behind her back, unclasping her bra with one practiced movement. The garment falls away, and Edward sucks in a breath.
"Perfect," he rasps.
He lowers his mouth to her breast, tongue circling, teasing. Leah arches with a broken sound, fingers sliding into his hair. He groans against her skin, the vibration shooting straight through her.
Her hands move down his torso, unbuckling his belt with shaking fingers. He lifts his head and watches her.
"Slow down," he whispers.
"No," she breathes. "I can't."
He smiles against her chest a wicked, ruined smile. "Good. Because I can't either."
He strips her jeans off, tossing them aside. Her panties follow. Her body trembles under his.
Edward lowers himself, kissing down her stomach, licking water droplets off her skin, making her gasp and twist beneath him. When his mouth brushes the inside of her thigh, she shivers so hard her breath breaks.
"Edward…"
"Tell me what you want," he murmurs against her skin.
"You. All of you."
He growls softly and then he gives her exactly that.
He kisses between her thighs, relentlessly, like a man worshipping. Leah cries out, fingers gripping his hair, back arching off the bed. He holds her hips down, not letting her escape the pleasure. His tongue moves slow… then deep… then fast… building her higher and higher until she explodes with a sobbing gasp, trembling violently.
Edward doesn't stop until she's undone, breathless, overwhelmed.
When he climbs back up her body, her legs wrap around him automatically. He kisses her hard, messy, hungry letting her taste herself on his lips.
"Leah," he whispers, voice trembling with restraint, "I need to be inside you."
She lifts her hips, pulling him closer. "Then stop talking."
He groans a deep, broken sound and finally pushes into her.
Her gasp mixes with his.
They both freeze breaths tangled like the world narrowed to this one moment.
"Jesus…" he whispers into her neck. "You feel… God, I missed this."
He moves slowly at first, letting her adjust, his forehead against hers. Their breaths sync, their bodies locking into a rhythm that feels too intimate, too familiar, too necessary.
Then she tightens her legs around him.
"More," she whispers.
He gives her more.
He thrusts harder, deeper. Her moans fill the room. His breaths turn ragged. Their bodies slap together, heat building, tension tightening. His hands grip her hips, then her thighs, then her wrists, pinning them above her head as he drives into her with pent-up hunger.
"Look at me," he demands.
Her eyes open wet, wild, wanting.
"This isn't over," he breathes. "You and me this isn't over."
She moans his name, and he thrusts harder, kissing her like he needs her breath to survive. The pleasure spirals out of control, pulling them both under. She shatters with a cry, and he follows immediately, groaning against her neck, body shuddering as he spills into her.
After, he stays there still inside her breathing hard against her skin.
She's the one who speaks first, voice soft, trembling.
"Edward…"
He lifts his head, brushing his nose against hers.
"I'm here," he whispers. "I'm not going anywhere."
And for the first time since the truth shattered everything…
Leah believes him.